


The Captain of the Flying Dutchman

by Dragonmad



Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-10-06
Updated: 2008-10-06
Packaged: 2017-10-26 10:24:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/281967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonmad/pseuds/Dragonmad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The years stretch unbearably for one who is immortal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Captain of the Flying Dutchman

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on LJ at Turningpirate.

Will felt the enduring sensation of loneliness shroud him like an elaborate cape, permanently attached.

Years passed in a trickling stream of time, seeming to leave no mark on reality. The only notice that the days passed at all was the arc of the sun and the moon, the vast array of faces he encountered everyday.

The ship creaked faithfully beneath him, riding the large cold waters on the way to World's end. His ship positively sparkled in the midday sun, yet Will felt no warmth.

This feeling of cold had followed him relentlessly, ever since his heart was removed; since the metal of his finest sword had pierced his flesh, injecting liquid ice into his veins. It was hard to explain specifically just where this feeling of cold originated from. It felt like he was encased in the crystalline chill of the ocean, yet there was no feeling of damp or slow anchorage of his movement. He merely walked through life, yet was removed from reality. It felt like a transparent veil was between him and everyone he came into contact with.

He was no longer like any of the others.

Not even the crew that tended his ship. They moved on eventually, when their time was done, they rejoined their loved ones.... their family... their friends.

Will dared not make any new friends. 100 years was too short a time when he was fated for life eternal. The pain of the process was too much.

  
~*~*~*~

  
The isolation became so overbearing that he could not stand the sight of an empty cabin at the end of the day. It sent aches so deep that he could hear the echoing sound of his heart thumping in time from the depths of the chest, hidden far away from his current locale. The cavernous depth of the captain's cabin seemed to mock him, laughing at the few possessions that dotted the room. Instead he abandoned the prospect of sleep and stayed up on deck. The stars above lighting the way, the creaks of the ship and the lapping of the waves against the hull the only sound; and the solid wood of the wheel, worn smooth by countless years the only touch he knew.

It eased the ache only for a short while.

  
~*~*~*~

  
After the death of Elizabeth, there had been no point in going ashore. He had stayed on the ship and resolutely steered her into deeper waters, trying to outrun the memories that weighed him down.

Many lives of men later he decided it was time he changed that. He could scarcely remember what it felt to be on land, the sight of a tree or the crunch of grass under his feet, the cessation of movement.

Peering out at the vista before him, Will took several steadying breaths. He stayed in the dinghy for several moments more before removing his boots and jumping into the shallows. The water was cool, and clear and he waded with ease to the shore. At the breakers he paused once more before pushing himself on. He tossed his effects and the towline onto the shore ahead of him.

The sand was warm and soft beneath his feet. The particles trickling between his toes, coating his feet and creating the perfect shoe.

A smile tugs at the corner of his lips for the first time in years. And slowly, Will starts to feel warm...

   
 

 


End file.
